This invention relates generally to centrifugal impellers and more particularly to arbitrary hub designs for centrifugal impellers.
In the prior art centrifugal impellers, each point on the hub which is located in the same plane normal to the axis of rotation is approximately the same distance from the axis of rotation. This configuration is referred to as concentric or non arbitrary hub design or contour.
The non arbitrary hub designs often are not the optimal design considering the compressibility of fluids, nonuniform flow across the passage between the impeller blades, resistance of the impeller to loads placed thereupon and the fact that the impeller rotates in one direction. For these reasons, among others, the impeller with a non arbitrary hub configuration often will not be the most efficient, or will limit the range of rotational speeds at which the impeller may operate.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present centrifugal impeller designs. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.